


Vigil

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Force Ghost(s), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 22:09:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21260432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Obi-Wan kept his vigil on Tatooine to protect Luke. Some things never change.





	Vigil

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aurae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurae/gifts).

Obi-Wan had made being a hermit look easy. Live out in the middle of nowhere, get a reputation for talking to yourself, and let the galaxy leave you the kriff alone. Somebody else could be a hero while you spent time growing your beard and not doing anything else ever that would lead to more terrible outcomes.

"It wasn't quite like that," Obi-Wan's shade said to him, joining Luke on a rock as he looked out on the endless ocean surrounding them. Old Ben had gone to the desert. Luke, who'd choked on enough sand for a lifetime, had come to the sea.

"You ran away," Luke said. "Your apprentice killed everyone you cared about, and there was nothing left."

"I went into hiding to protect you. You and Leia were the most important beings in the galaxy to me. I hid to hide you, not to be alone. It's not healthy to be alone too long." There was a note of chiding in his voice. They both knew why Luke had come here. He had no one to protect, and no one to talk to. The Lanai gave him a wide berth. The big-eyed birds that made this island chain their home had almost no use for a lone human.

Almost. His hand was bumped insistently. Luke moved his fingers to scratch the head of the porg next to him as it chirruped happily.

"I left a map," Luke said, his eyes on the sea. "I gave it to two friends in pieces. If they need me, they can find me."

Obi-Wan watched him. Luke didn't know if ghosts had opinions of their own, if they could learn new information, or if they were merely shadows of the living, caught in the moment of who they were when they passed into the Force. He didn't know if they could change, or if ghosts were bidden to follow the same steps in death that they'd trodden in life. It wasn't a question anyone could answer for him before he learned first-hand, and that at least he had no active desire to hurry. When Obi-Wan said, "They do need you, Luke, and you need them," there was no way to discover if that was the truth, or if it had been the truth the day his friend had perished, long ago when the galaxy had seemed simple.

"I'm not going back. I can't. I'll be here waiting for them," he said, and he stroked the porg's head and listened to the crash of the waves on the rocks far below.

Obi-Wan gave him a nod. "Then so shall I."


End file.
